Shades of Gray
by DroganNiteflier
Summary: What would happen if the Senshi had to fight two wars at once?
1. New Troubles and Discoveries

Sailor Pluto walked swiftly over the icy dunes. The supply ship had landed a good distance away from the Rift, most likely because the pilot was being overly cautious. It didn't matter, if it made the pilots think distance was safe, then so be it. Even if she did have to haul the supplies nearer to her home by herself.  
By the time she had arrived at the drop-off site, however, she knew something was amiss. The ships came but once every Earth year, but they didn't have much to leave her even then, just a few odds and ends and things she couldn't make or grow herself. For it to stay this long, it must have a great amount to unload. This had only happened twice before, and each of those times she had had warning.  
She crested the last hill as the ship fired retros and lifted off. When it cleared the landing zone, she saw her suspected reason for the ship's strange behavior. Off to the side of the official shipment, were three crates, somewhat smaller than the rest, and sitting on one of them, a person.  
Pluto could tell from her position on the crest of the dune that this person was female, dark-haired, and a very, very powerful magic user.  
Ignoring the various cargo stamped with the symbols for Jupiter, Mercury, and other planets, Pluto gracefully walked down to the other woman, who was now getting off of the box she had been sitting on. On closer inspection, the woman was wearing casual, but workable clothes that hugged her form rather well. Around her waist was a tool belt, hanging from which were several tools and implements that she could not put a name to.  
Pluto decided to make the first move. "Greetings, I am Sailor Pluto. May I ask your name and the reason you were exiled?"  
The other smiled, then bobbed her head in an irreverent bow. "You may, Sailor Pluto! I am Ery'ka, but most call me Erica. As for the reason of my banishment..." she winks one of her large, green/brown eyes, "The Great and Noble Serenity decided not to take any chances with her mighty person, and sent someone who had made a 'deadly and dangerous weapon' out where she could not harm anyone of personage again."  
Pluto raised a single viridian eyebrow. "You made a weapon that was used in an assassination attempt against the Queen? And you're still standing? What, pray tell, was this weapon?"  
Ery'ka smiled slightly and leaned back against one of the larger boxes. "A hoof pick. But you couldn't have convinced Her Royal Majesty of that. I didn't even know what they were going to use it for when I made it. How could I? It was forged almost two hundred years ago. Goddess, it was probably used for its intended purpose at first. I sold it to the Saturnian Nomades."  
Pluto had to smile at that. The Queen killed by a tool used to dig stones and dirt out of the hooves of horses and other animals of the Nomades. Fitting in a way, as the Nomades were the second group most likely to ignore any action by Queen Serenity that did not directly involve them. The first, of course, was herself.  
"I take it the would-be assassin survived at least some of the questioning? Or did Mercury trace it back to you some other way?"  
"Aye, the latter. It took her a few years to do it though. Mercury's good, but cold iron stops most attempts of magic." Ery'ka frowned now. "I just wish I could have talked with her more. I could probably have tricked her into using her divination magic on herself."  
Pluto sighed, and leaned up against the crate by Ery'ka. "It would most likely have done no good. The Queen has too much control over the Senshi, myself included." She laughs softly. "Goddess, I'm her link to the Outer Senshi, so its no surprise that the keeps me in an iron grip."  
The shorter woman looked askance at the Senshi. "But it's not the Queen, is it?" she asked softly.  
Pluto turned her head and looked at her only companion on the planet that shared her name. "You know too much. And you present too many mysteries." She looked up into the sky, noting the distant spark that was Sol, only slightly brighter than the rest of the stars in the sky. "As it is, it is time for me to return to the Rift. Duty and all. I'll be back later to move the majority of this stuff to my tower. Feel free to set up where you will, there's no one else to disturb you, and no ship will land here as long as you are alive."  
The Senshi stood straight and began to trot back to the east, leaving the blacksmith to set up her things as she wished.  
Behind her, Ery'ka sighed. The term of the sentence was that she be taken to Pluto, but the previous two times someone had been given such a condemnation, the few ships that could travel to Pluto were forbidden by Royal Decree. What she had to do was easy, really.  
She had to create her own way off the planet, and perhaps solve a few other problems as well.  
She gained a smile that her family would have known on sight.  
For the creation of Weapons was her specialty.  
  
===============================================================================  
Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters, situations, and items belong to Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
All else is mine.  
/*  
Begin = 11-13-2002;  
Finish = 12-09-2002;  
*/  
===============================================================================  
  
I wonder now, when a good deal of my actions are done, and my course set beyond change, if I took a path that might push this timeline to destruction even quicker. The friendship I made with the strongest and weakest Senshi... could it have pushed her onto a darker path?  
I can't really say.  
All I know, is that my Trial of Tyr'tani is just beginning.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Shades of Gray  
  
Chapter 1: New Troubles and Discoveries  
  
Chronicled by Dro'gan called NiteFlier  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The meetings were rare, now. The Inner Senshi used them for the "Official" purpose now: Study Group. Occasionally Haruka and Michiru would show up with Hotaru in tow, and the Senshi would talk of their future and what their plans were. After all, Setsuna had told them that there would be no more enemies after Galaxia. After Galaxia they could just sit back, relax and not worry about fighting any more Youma, Daimons, or other monster sent to take energy, heart crystals, or some such.  
There was still the sporadic arrival of true Demons, or other dangerous beast, but those were dispatched easily, not causing any problems to the Senshi.  
It was thus, at one of those meetings that the three Outers had chosen to attend, that the Mercury Computer decided to drop an alert on their laps.  
  
  
They arrived at the location of the disturbance to find nothing amiss at first glance. When the second and third glances ended in the same result, their gazes turned to Mercury, who began to get nervous under their stares.  
"But its here, I'm sure of it! Just let me find it again!" She quickly activated her visor and swept it over the shopping district. As she looked towards the Sailors, the computer identified each one, and their relative strengths, proving that it was working properly. Mercury began to turn towards the shops, with people now starting to look up at the gathered Senshi, she was blindsided.  
To the Senshi, it looked like the creature had merely run past the blue-haired girl, but Mercury doubled up as if hit and fell off the building they were on, landing in the midst of the gathering crowd.  
The Sailors immediately reacted; Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, and Mars going after the attacker, and Saturn, Venus, and Moon jumping down to help Mercury.  
As the four chased the demon, Saturn and Moon helped Mercury into a sitting position while Venus kept a look out, watching the others pursue the creature. By now the assembled populace had run away or ducked into hiding, hoping that the demon wouldn't swerve towards them, even though the Senshi had not yet let fly with any magic.  
"Mercury, are you all right?" The almost panicked Moon cried. Saturn, with more restraint, added her inquiry.  
Mercury nodded, then said, "It didn't have much strength, but it's faster than anything I've ever seen! I'm pretty sure that it hit me ten or twenty times as it ran past, even though it never stopped moving." With the aid of the other two, she slowly stood.  
As Mercury focused her visor at the speeding demon and its trailing Sailors, the other three not in pursuit of the creature watched as the other Senshi created traps and ambushes that the demon breezed by. Strangely, the demon was not doing any damage whatsoever, merely moving too quickly for the Sailors to catch up.  
The demon in question was not a huge hulking brute that was the supposed vision of evil and destruction, but rather more of an imp. Short, spindly, and altogether unimposing, it did not look to have the power that Mercury's Computer claimed it did while back at the shrine. However, for all these characteristics, the unnatural speed of the fiend put it at more than a match for the Senshi.  
"I'm certain that if we corner it, one good blow should kill it." Mercury stated after a short pause of study.   
Moon nodded, "Not much power but lots of speed? Oh no, look!"  
The imp had found itself in exactly the situation that Mercury had specified, in a corner of a building with the four Senshi blocking its exit. As the Sailors powered up their attacks, the demon jumped onto the wall behind it and clamored up with the same speed that it showed on the ground.  
The Senshi looked stricken. Although they were not tired, they had yet to destroy the imp.  
Sailor Moon called her Senshi in, and as they flowed around her, they could see the demon perch on top of a roof, waiting for their move.  
"It's as if it just wants us to use our attacks at it." Uranus grouched.  
"Maybe it wants to study us, right?" Venus said sarcastically. "Think here! It's a demon!"  
"I'm not so sure it couldn't." Mars said quietly. The Senshi's attention was instantly on her. Mars looked around at the others. "Grandfather hasn't really gone into demons besides exorcising them, but he said something about levels of demonkind and how some are more powerful or intelligent than others."  
"And this one certainly shows some intelligence, at the very least." Mercury pointed out. "We need to surround it, and hit it from all sides so it can't dodge."  
Sailor Moon agreed. "Okay! Then let's get to it! Try and keep in inside a circle, and catch it in the crossfire."  
Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, Venus, and Mars quickly moved to surround the demon. Mercury and Saturn kept back to provide cover fire while Sailor Moon prepared one of her greater attacks to destroy the imp.   
The demon looked around at its attackers, waiting for them to make a move. It knew its purpose, and would hold to it.  
The battle turned into a stalemate for a few seconds; each party waiting for the other to make the first act. Finally, the imp rocketed straight for Uranus, just as she let fly with "World Shaking!"  
Miraculously, the imp darted around the sonic bomb, leaving Venus to catch it on the other side of the circle. Uranus did not even have time to raise the Space Sword in her hand before the demon quite literally ran over her. The Senshi barely had time to turn and look at where the imp was headed before it suddenly slipped as if on ice and crashed into a wall it had obviously been intending to run up. Before it could gain its feet, Jupiter and Neptune were on it, pinning it to the ground.  
Without questioning the slip, Sailor Moon raised her scepter and posed. "For ruining a beautiful shopping day for many people, and disrupting a grand get together among friends, in the name of the Moon, _Moon_Healing_Escalation_!" the bolt of healing energy hit the imp's aura and turned deadly. The demon, held between the two Sailors, did not even scream as it was turned to dust.  
The Senshi quickly vacated the area as the officials arrived to the disrupted district. If Mercury had not been so preoccupied with something else, she might have noticed the slight trace of a teleportation burst, leaving just as they were.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"It *slips*? It speeds around the shops, runs up walls, leaves us in the dust, and it *slips*?" Haruka was understandably unhappy.  
"The ground was a bit slippery for some reason." Offered Michiru.  
"It felt like it was icy when I went across it." Added Makoto.  
The group once again turned its attention to Ami. The Senshi of Ice had been preoccupied when the Sailors had returned to the shrine, as if mulling over a difficult problem at school. When she didn't respond to the assembled gazes, Minako elbowed her gently.  
"Huh? What? Did I miss something?"  
Ignoring the sighs of resignation from Haruka and Makoto, Usagi explained to her their question. "Makoto and Michiru said that the ground was a bit icy when they went across where the demon slipped. Did you do anything to it? I mean, we didn't hear you call out any attack mantra so we're not exactly sure what happened."  
Ami took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I... I think that I did do something, but I'm not sure what." This drew the attention of the Senshi again. Usagi gestured for her oldest friend to continue. "Well, I mean, I wanted it to stay in one place, and when I saw that it would dodge Haruka's blast I could see that if there was just a bit of ice behind her, the imp wouldn't have time to notice it before it went over it and would fall. I just knew I could make just a little bit of ice, just there. And... I did."  
The Sailors sat, awed that perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to their powers than careful gestures and shouted focusing mantras.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The imp bowed low, though it could not see what it was bowing to.  
"So the Senshi are on Earth, and humanity is limited to that planet as well? But you did not find Pluto." The voice echoed in the dark chamber, speaking in a tongue not know to humankind. The imp nodded, hissing out in its guttural language of the details of it's partner's demise. The voice boomed out again, "you have done well. Go to the Pits and find a new partner. Do well in training it, and you will be rewarded by another mission."  
The imp bowed lower, and scampered out of the hall.  
There was a pause, as the beings left in the chamber pondered the information they had received.  
"It is quite obvious," hissed a low voice in the Abyssal tongue. "That they are untrained in their powers. Now is the time to strike! Obliterate them, and that world will be ours! Food enough for a thousand of our children!"  
"You forget," growled a brassy voice. "That they did not find Sailor Pluto. She is our main enemy. She still remembers us and what we are. We cannot risk her taking steps against us."  
The low voice began to protest, when the first voice echoed out again. "You both have your points. We cannot let Sailor Pluto gain knowledge that we have a different opening into their cosmos. As well, it appears that the Senshi are learning to broaden their powers on their own."  
"Fool, if we could but open the Gate-!"  
There was the sound of flesh striking flesh, then silence.  
"Listen, and listen well, brother," said the echoing voice. "If the least of our kind takes but one step out of the Gate, it will bring down the fury of the Sailor Senshi like nothing else. Why do you think we send those among the weakest of us through a portal that can barely be seen? Until Pluto is dead, we cannot use the Gates of Time to enter unto their world."  
In the end, they could not but agree with him. 


	2. Friendship's Founded

Pluto approached the lean-to cautiously, the hammering sounds from within warning her to stay back.  
  
The lean-to itself was fetched up right against the west tower, the one she herself lived in. Pluto saw that the tent-like structure was actually made of wooden slats, probably from box parts. As she circled the new assembly to its open north side, the hammering stopped, and Ery'ka stepped out.  
  
"Thinking of setting up your trade here?" The Sailor asked. "But there's only you and me on this planet, and not much more needful of anything else."  
  
Ery'ka smiled lopsidedly. "There's a few things I think I could make. What took you so long getting back?"  
  
Pluto walked calmly to the door in the tower. "What do you mean, 'long'? I was only gone..." and here she thought a moment, "some fifty-two hours. I've spent months traversing the mists around the Rift." She gestured to the valley to the east. Deep within it, mists roiled around as if alive. On the far side of the valley, and to the north and south of it, three more towers could be barely seen. As she turned to enter the squat tower, she saw past a small dip behind the building.  
  
Ery'ka came up behind her as she stared. "I thought it might put us on better terms if I did something for you. Thought you might like not having to drag all that stuff all the way here."  
  
The cargo that the ship had dropped with Ery'ka and her things had left more than enough supplies than Pluto could need for the next century. All of it, every single crate and box, had been transported over fifteen kilometers to the tower.  
  
"But-but *why*?" Pluto almost helplessly gestured towards the supplies.  
  
Ery'ka looked very confused at this. "Because it needed to be done, and you were busy with other things. Because I could do it, and it did not interfere with anything else I was doing. Because among friends, there is no such thing as too much kindness." She paused for a moment. "Pluto, there are still those people who will do things for one another without being asked or commanded, and do it without thought for reward or payment."  
  
The Senshi almost staggered back, but Ery'ka caught her and helped her sit down against the wall of the tower. She stared at the shorter woman who, in less than half an hour of being in her company, had amazed her no less than three times. "Have I grown so used to the intrigue and power struggles of the Serene Court that even after a separation of thousands of years and many different rulers that I have forgotten the simpler life?"  
  
Her question went unanswered but for the look of compassion on Ery'ka's face.  
  
The Sailor smiled. A real smile, like she had not in ages. "Show me your mysteries then, blacksmith, sorceress, friend."  
  
Ery'ka laughed. "Alright then, but I must tell you that I am a maker of Weapons, and I plan to make two, here." She stabbed a finger down to the surface of the planet. "One for the famed Sailor Pluto of Death, and one to close up the Rift of Worlds and change it into a different portal, a Gate!"  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters, situations, and items belong to Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
All else is mine.  
  
/*  
  
Begin = 12-09-2002;  
  
1draft= 12-21-2003;  
  
*/  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Intriguing as my work is here, I doubt that I'll be able to stay away much longer. I have the feeling that those events I set in motion in my attempts to correct the problems Ery'ka inadvertently created will soon come to a head. Mum can always get another of the girls to help cook.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Shades of Gray  
  
Chapter 2: Friendship founded  
  
Chronicled by Dro'gan called NiteFlier  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Hotaru walked slowly home from school, her feet dragging despite the fact that she was now away from her schoolmates. The teasing that she had endured earlier in the year had let up some, but there were days like today that it seemed worse by tenfold.  
  
Her mind was occupied by several problems, not the least of which was Ami's amazing discovery yesterday. The Senshi of Ice had duplicated the effect of her magic once more, creating a thin sheet of ice on the floor of the shrine.  
  
The rest of the Senshi had decided to try to duplicate Sailor Mercury's accomplishment with their own powers, with some mixed results. Mars and Neptune had been able to conjure up a bit of flame and water, respectively, but Jupiter, Venus, and Uranus had no luck summoning up their elements. Although in Venus's case, it might have been because she kept shouting out different phases and not really concentrating on casting an attack. When Sailor Moon had tried to call on her power, she had reverted to her form of Princess Serenity, causing a ruckus when Prince Endymon came rushing to her "rescue", having felt her transform and expecting her to be in danger.  
  
With the commotion Mamoru had caused, they had never gotten around to seeing if she, Sailor Saturn, could use magic without calling out a focusing mantra. Hotaru was rather glad for that, since she already knew that she could do that, and had indeed, gone one step farther.  
  
For was not she capable of Healing injuries even while not transformed?  
  
Which led her back to the reason that she was glad to be out of school today: once again one of her peers had hurt themselves, and Hotaru had Healed it without a second thought. That one act of kindness had set off the entire class, causing much more grief for her.  
  
Hotaru had retreated from the insults and jibes by seeking solitude, but several of the larger boys in the class had sought her out, and began pushing her around. If it had not been for a teacher stumbling across the confrontation, she might have been seriously hurt.  
  
While not as frail as she as she had been before, Hotaru was still a sickly young girl, not capable of defending herself from the trio of bullies that had descended to punish her for not being like the rest of the class.  
  
Hotaru had thought that perhaps one of the other students had clued in the teacher about what had been happening, but when she asked discreetly, none of them would even talk to her. Despite that, she persevered, going even so far as to ask the instructor herself, but receiving no useful input other than, "Why don't you make some friends?"  
  
Friends?  
  
That was another thing weighing on her mind, for that was what she tried to do whenever she met a new student, or a new person joined the class. But every time she tried, the other students, led by the three bullies, quickly convinced any new person that she was a freak because of her abilities.  
  
When was the last time that she knew someone that she could really call a friend? It must have been years ago, long before she was adopted by Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa. Perhaps even before the accident that nearly took her life, and changed her birth father so much.  
  
Hotaru thought about that time, and shuddered as she walked. The simple exercise of going to and from school did not tire her too much anymore, but there had been a time that she could not have gone a quarter of the way without dropping in exhaustion. She had become stronger, but still not as strong as she had been even when she was younger, before Mistress Nine took up residence in her.  
  
Back then, she had run and played, carefree of the world, and enjoying life, happy to share time with-  
  
Hotaru stopped suddenly, as she remembered something. Then, a joyous smile broke out on her face as she recalled that once, there had been one that she had called friend.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey! You came again!"  
  
"Yeah, well, couldn't really not come."  
  
"Come on 'Taru, this is gonna be fun!"  
  
Two friends, smiling, go off to do mischief.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Haruka looked up from the kitchen table when she heard the front door open and shut. A quick mental checklist proved that Michiru was up getting changed, Setsuna was, for once, at home, but her daughter was late coming back from school.  
  
"Welcome home, Hotaru!" she called out.  
  
Shortly the petite girl came into the kitchen. "Hello, papa."  
  
Haruka hugged Hotaru carefully, "So why so late coming home?"  
  
Hotaru just smile brightly, "I just made a little detour, papa. I wanted to see someplace that I hadn't been in a while."  
  
"Oh, really?" Haruka held the smaller girl in her arms, keeping her from escape. "Where was this place?"  
  
"It's nothing really papa, Just a place I used to go with someone."  
  
Now the older Senshi's interest was piqued. "With someone? You mean Chibi-Usa?"  
  
Hotaru shook her head. "No, papa, its someone you've never met. The last time I saw her, she had to move away, and it was before father..." Here the young girl trailed off.  
  
Haruka's face showed her understanding. She released Hotaru, and the dark haired girl left the kitchen, her smile dimmed.  
  
Haruka cursed herself silently for taking that smile away from her normally somber daughter. She wondered if Hotaru's old friend was still around, and if so, where?  
  
* * * * *  
  
Setsuna was rather surprised when Michiru told her about what Ami had found, and was even more interested when Michiru transformed and preformed an attack without calling out a focusing mantra.  
  
But both those things paled quite rapidly in the face of Michiru's description of the enemy that they had fought.  
  
"Setsuna, what's wrong?" asked Michiru at the Time Senshi's reaction.  
  
"It sounded like, like... But that's not possible! I would have felt it if they came through the Gate!" Setsuna paced back and forth, agitated by the report. She turned to suddenly, summoning the Garnet Staff, and disappeared into the time stream.  
  
Michiru stood there for a second, blinking. "Well, that was odd."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sailor Pluto appeared before the Gates of Time, staff at the ready, and prepared to fight, expecting hordes of demons to attack her on her arrival.  
  
What she found was nothing more than what she had left, several hours before: The Gates of Time, standing solidly in the Mist, alone.  
  
She ran to them, and opened the great doors so that she might peer into the past, to see the fight that Michiru had described.  
  
One look at the Imp was all that was necessary to confirm that it was who she feared, but that they had not used their normal portal to enter this side of reality.  
  
She quickly fell to searching for the Rift that they now used, not noticing another entry unto the universe.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Hotaru came home from school on Monday in a bad mood. It had started the day before, when Haruka had been gone for the entire day, and had not spoken a word of what she was up to even to her lover. Then there was Setsuna, who had popped in about lunch, grabbed something to eat, then disappeared again. That was standard Setsuna behavior, but the almost harried look that she had worn worried both Michiru and Hotaru. Then there had been today, where she hadn't gotten a moment's peace during class, with all the murmuring and sly winks from one student to another.  
  
She had been imminently glad when the bell had rung and she had escaped the classroom and made ready to go home, away from all unpleasant surprises. When she had arrived home Michiru had welcomed her with open arms, and an apology that Haruka had to go out early.  
  
Hotaru was puzzled by this development, since her papa was obviously continuing yesterday's furtive search for something, but for the life of her, she could not figure out what.  
  
Some time after she had gone up to finish her schoolwork, she heard the front door open again. She rushed downstairs to greet Haruka, but stopped when she saw that the blond was accompanied by a dark haired girl about her own age.  
  
The girl looked at Hotaru with her silver eyes, and drew in a breath. "Taru?"  
  
Hotaru's eyes grew wide as saucers. "ZAN!!" she cried as she lunged at her oldest friend.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru and Haruka sat in the living room, listening to the sounds of the two young girls becoming reacquainted up in Hotaru's room.  
  
"I'm telling you, love, I really don't quite understand it," complained Haruka. "I had a good description from Hotaru, but halfway through the day I realized that there was no way in the world I could find her. It's been nearly ten years since they last saw each other. They both must have changed... But did you see them when we walked in the door? She had only to say Hotaru's name and our daughter latched onto her like she would just disappear in a wisp of smoke."  
  
Michiru snuggled closer to her lover. "It might be that she reminded Hotaru of a better time. You know that she hasn't had many friends, if any. Chibi-Usa aside, I don't think she has had *any* since she was reborn after Mistress Nine took over her body. Is it such a bad thing?"  
  
Haruka nodded. "No, it isn't. But... Remember that I said that I was just about ready to give up? I was walking out of the Family Registry office to come back home, when this girl came up to me and asked if I had been looking for her."  
  
The aqua haired woman leaned back and looked at the blond oddly. "Just out of the blue?"  
  
Haruka nodded. "Yeah. She did look somewhat like Hotaru's description, but so does most kids their age... except for her eyes. Did you see them? Silver eyes..." Haruka trailed off. "She just said that she knew that someone had been searching for her, someone she didn't know. I asked her if she knew someone named Tomoe, and her eyes lit up just like Hotaru's when she saw her. After that, I asked her where she stayed, and whether or not I could bring her here, but she said that today after school would be better than then."  
  
Michiru shook her head. "I don't understand a lot of what you've told me, but I get the feeling that you don't understand it either. I wonder if Setsuna could figure it out."  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the Pit, two small gangly beings stood before a carved arch of fire-blackened stone. The pair looked to one another for a moment, then stepped through it into the Mists. 


	3. Cracks in the Facade

Sailor Pluto stalked through the dim Mist, her senses keeping watch for anything but the fluid vibrancy of the air. She walked carefully around the event horizon of the Rift, knowing that this was the most likely place for any otherworldly intruders to appear. The Rift shrieked like a Banshee, promising Death to any who were foolish enough to enter therein.  
  
She knew. She had crossed to the other side once. It had taken Saturn, who had been residing with her at the time, to pull her back, at the cost of her own life.  
  
She had been foolish enough to think that having another watching the Mists made it safe to venture into the Rift, but instead it had nearly killed both of them instead. Pluto had spent nigh two years recovering, despite the advanced healing that all Senshi possessed. Saturn had died, and she had lost a companion that could have helped her keep the loneliness at bay for a time. Not that Saturn could have left, for she had been in the same predicament as Ery'ka was now.  
  
On the subject of the Sorceress-Smith, the last time Pluto had seen her Ery'ka had given her a cryptic smile and asked if she could see the Rift up close. Pluto had immediately tried to convince her that going into the Rift was sure death, but the other woman merely shook her head and stated that she didn't want to go into it, but to study it.  
  
This had thoroughly confused Pluto and she had asked for some time to think about it. Ery'ka had merely replied that time was not one of her concerns of late. It was for that reason that she was hunting in the Mists now, for she did not know weather to grant the request, especially since it had been so long since she had last found and destroyed the Intruders who dared cross over. It was, to coin a phrase, about time for them to send another expedition.  
  
As if on cue, she felt a slight shift in the Mist nearby, the event horizon of the Rift shifted suddenly, and a strange, gangly being was unFolded into this reality.  
  
She waited, silently and motionless, for the Imp to move off from the Rift, feeling its perceptions pass over her again and again, never noticing the slight variation in the Mist that heralded her presence. The Imp moved forward slightly, and another being unFolded from the Rift. This one was shorter and seemed to have more mass than the Imp, it was the Watcher, who reported back to the world that they came from.  
  
If it survived, that is.  
  
The Imp's search stopped and it moved away from the Watcher, but Pluto knew from past experience that the two were connected magically, and would know if the other was harmed. She had grown quite quick at dispatching them.  
  
Waiting until the Watcher was away from the event horizon, she slipped behind the Imp undetected, and with a quick grab and twist, snapped its neck. Immediately dropping the dead Daemon, Pluto rushed to the Rift, only to see the Watcher already Folding away into it. Quickly readying power, she called out the command phrase and extended her hand towards the Watcher.   
  
"DEAD SCREAM!"  
  
The blast of deadly mana sped from her fingers, impacting with the Watcher in midFold, its body overloaded with Death magic, it started to disintegrate while still being Folded. It disappeared before it completely disintegrated, probably falling out on the other side of the Rift.  
  
Pluto sighed, and turned away from the Rift. The body of the Imp was being slowly devoured by the Mists, for without the magical protection that kept it at bay, it sucked life-force and sustenance from the living or dead.  
  
She would wait for a time, to see if more pairs came across, but she doubted it. At the very least, she would feel better about letting Ery'ka examine the Rift.  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Sailor Moon and all affiliated characters, situations, and items belong to Naoko Takeuchi.  
  
All else is mine.  
  
/*  
  
Begin = 20040206;  
  
Finish = 20040208;  
  
*/  
  
===============================================================================  
  
I had not thought... That is, I did not expect... the impact friendship had... still has... on both she and I.  
  
I did not expect to form true friendship with her, but when I saw her there... Even though I knew who and what she was, even though I knew that our friendship was vital to alter the course of this timeline back to the way it should have been...  
  
It all doesn't matter now that I have seen the beautiful smile on My Firefly's face.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Shades of Gray  
  
Chapter 3: Cracks in the Façade  
  
Chronicled by Dro'gan, called NiteFlier  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Setsuna!!"  
  
The weary Senshi of Time looked up from her tea. "Not so loud please... My head hurts too much."  
  
Haruka stood dumbfounded for a second. "You okay Setsuna? You look like hell."  
  
The green haired woman nodded. "Just exhausted from using the Gate too much... But I have to find it."  
  
"Find what?" asked the blonde as she sat down across from Setsuna.  
  
Setsuna raised her eyes to Haruka, and the blonde was shocked to see the red eyes bloodshot and nearly unfocused. "THEM. Their entrance. They aren't using the one I know, and I have to find out where it is before they send anything more dangerous than an Imp and a Watcher."  
  
Haruka blinked in surprise. "You know of these things?!"  
  
Setsuna nodded shallowly. "Back then... Far back then, their only portal to this plane of existence was on my planet, Pluto. I was set to watch there, to make sure another invasion could never take place. I stayed there, until the day that portal was sealed away, killing any who were sent to test the defenses of the Kingdom."  
  
The blonde listened carefully, for the Senshi of Time had never been this open about the past before. "What invasion?"  
  
"The Daemons came in force, Billions strong. Humanity was fragmented and broken, and the invasion only served to splinter them more. Until Serenity. She came from Luna, with the Silver Crystal. She gathered up the peoples of the Sol system, and bringing all but one of the Senshi unto her fold." Setsuna frowned. "That one decided that she would fight the Daemons on her own, and went off to fight alone. But Serenity was merciful, and when the rouge Senshi died, she her spirit and powers were brought back to Luna and set with the other Senshi. Fortunately, she's still sealed away, only coming out when the Silver Crystal deems no other hope is left."  
  
"Sealed? Why would they be sealed?"  
  
Setsuna abruptly grabbed Haruka's arm. "Say not her name! Say not, for her true power was enough to render the legions of Daemons into dust. Serenity and her Senshi only fought a small, weakened fragment of the Daemon's original strength, and they were still nigh overwhelmed! She... She rendered the rest into nothing before her body was burnt out from the power. To let that power loose would be to destroy all that Serenity stood for."  
  
The Senshi of Time suddenly stood. "I must return to the Gate. I must find where their portal is."  
  
Haruka sat stunned by the information while the other woman teleported away.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I'm... huuu... I'm sorry Zan..." She was so weak; she could not even stand anymore!  
  
"NO!" Warm arms, holding her up, keeping her safe. "Don't be sorry, it isn't your fault. I can tell that easily enough, now. I saw fragments then, but I can see it more clearly now! You are strong! You are Hope, the Light in the Darkness."  
  
"Wha, what do you mean?" Confusion, why? Not her...? Fragment?  
  
"Don't you remember what I told you then, My Firefly? Esper. Memory?" Realization. Magic different from Senshi. Other stories heard of Magi and wizards, hedge witches and sorcerers. Consigned to urban legend, but was her power any more believable?  
  
"You... Have become trained?" Wonder, at another who could, perhaps, sympathize with her power?  
  
"Yes. I see the lines of power you that bind you, and the great power held within, sleeping." Great power? Only the power of Silence, the End of All.  
  
"Terrible power. Can do nothing but destroy." Was that all she was? A Weapon forged?  
  
"No, My Firefly. Can you not Heal, even as you did when children were we? Not a Weapon, but a Choice." Not a Weapon? But then...  
  
"What Choice?"  
  
"To be as they say, to bend to their wishes... or to be as you truly are."  
  
* * * * *  
  
The longhaired blonde reeled in shock as she saw the Imp scamper by, and immediately hit the panic button on her communicator.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, no! Zan, I must-"  
  
"Go, My Firefly, and I will come when I can. Go swiftly!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
The Senshi once again gathered, but this time the Imp did not wait for the Senshi to attack, Running zigzag through their formation, it rained blows down on the eight of them, but fell slipping and sliding into Sailor Pluto's grasp as she suddenly appeared. The Imp struggled as the white glove choked off its air, and crushed its throat.  
  
The other Senshi stood shocked at the casual way Pluto had captured and killed the Imp, as well as the disgust on her face.  
  
"There is another! The scouts always reconnoiter in pairs!" Pluto called out. "Mercury, start searching, it may try to hide itself!"  
  
Sailor Moon took command of the situation, "Mercury, go. Everyone else, spread out and search! Pluto, I want—"  
  
"It can wait, Sailor Moon," Sailor Pluto interrupted. "This is not the time. I promise that I will explain everything at a later point, but for now we *must* destroy the Intruders."  
  
Sailor Moon nodded. "Right, then lets—"  
  
"THERE IT IS!"  
  
Both Sailors looked to the shout, to see Saturn running and stumbling away from a being that looked quite like the Imp that Pluto had killed.  
  
Pluto wasted precious seconds in shock. "What?! But the Watchers NEVER attack!!"  
  
Sailor Moon was not so distracted. Immediately lining up the target, she forwent pretty speeches and posing with one of her Senshi in danger. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!!"  
  
The giant heart impacted with the Watcher and both disintegrated instantly. Sailor Saturn looked back and then stumbled to a halt, wearily resting on her Glaive. In but a moment she was surrounded by the other Senshi, all of them wanting to know if she was well.  
  
When the Senshi of Silence bid them away, Sailor Moon immediately noticed that Pluto had disappeared again, without answering her questions. Sailor Uranus immediately started grumbling about this, saying something about "Nailing her feet to the floor", before telling the Senshi what Setsuna had conveyed to her earlier in the day.  
  
The rest of the Senshi nodded, and Sailor Moon requested a meeting the following day. After the time had been set, the Senshi parted ways.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Michiru slowly walked home with Haruka and Hotaru, the young girl needing to rest every so often from her flight. She was only halfway surprised when Zanitia abruptly appeared and sat by Hotaru. The silver eyed girl seemed to personify coincidence and happenstance. "How did you find us?" she asked.  
  
Zanitia merely slipped an arm around Hotaru as she answered. "There are more things in the world than can be explained in simple terms, Kaiou-san."  
  
Haruka snorted. "You sound like a friend of ours. Always speaking in cryptic riddles."  
  
"Maybe we just don't speak the same language?" Hotaru said. "Enigmas concealing a different way of speaking."  
  
Both Michiru and Haruka blinked at this, but before they could gather their wits, Hotaru stood, and took Zanitia's hand. "I think I want you to show me what you promised, Zan. Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, I'll be back for dinner!" And with that, the pair ran off.  
  
"Well," said Haruka, "It seems she feels better."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Do you think... that I could learn how to do that?"  
  
"Of course, My Firefly. Although you may have to change it up a bit, because not all systems of magic are the same."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, my magic is freeform, with every spell being made new every time I cast, but at the cost of the time to make it, and my reservoir of power. The advantage is that I can alter spells on the fly, and come up with new ones at relatively little cost other than time and experimentation."  
  
"What about a more constrained system?"  
  
"Constrained? There are systems that do not rely on a reservoir, but rely on memory, so that each time a spell is cast it is taken from memory and must be relearned. It is a rather more silent though. Of course in this system you can't cast the same spell twice without relearning it, and it's very hard to come up with new spells. Puts a damper on throwing more than one fireball."  
  
"Um... can you memorize yet still use a reservoir?"  
  
"Yes... I think. Someone could probably have an 'active memory' of spells, yet limited by the reservoir of power. Probably wouldn't have as easy a time coming up with new spells, but if you want to repeat a spell over and over, you would only be limited to the reservoir."  
  
"You said something about silent spells?"  
  
"Oh? Yes, the unreusable spells... They tend to be silent to magical senses because they don't draw on power. If I wanted to cast a spell silently, I might have to use double or even triple again the power to keep it 'soundless' to those listening for it. Fortunately, it's not too useful outside of covert operations and getting to places quietly. It's a nice way to keep someone from tracking you when teleporting, I'll give you that."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Setsuna looked up from where she had placed her head on the table. The front door had admitted someone, but since she had not heard the screech of tires, nor the soft humming of classical authors, she correctly assumed that it was the youngest member of the household, and put her head back down.  
  
"Setsuna-mama? Are you okay?" The hushed voice and light touch on her shoulder informed her that Hotaru had gotten much quieter lately.  
  
"It's nothing that you can help with, I'm afraid, Hotaru." She sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I'm just using too much of my power to scan for that blasted portal, but it's hidden too damn well."  
  
Hotaru nodded and left as quietly as she had come. It was a good time to see if she could be silent in other areas as well.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It was almost no surprise the next afternoon that when the Senshi had finally all gotten together again to discuss what Setsuna was hiding from them *this* time, another Daemon made its appearance.  
  
Only this Daemon wasn't like the others.  
  
Where the Imps and the Watcher had been small, relatively human sized, this Daemon was huge. Where those before had not caused any real damage to the landscape, this Daemon was ripping trees out of the ground, and throwing them around the park. Where the others had been silent, this Daemon...  
  
"Come out, come out! I shall see if you are as bold as you were then! Come out, Serenity's dogs, for I shall destroy, and keep destroying until you do!"  
  
"Stop right there!"  
  
The giant looked to his left, and then turned to the shout and gave a horrendous grin. "Well, so you have finally come!" The Daemon looked closer at the five Senshi, and frowned at the one in the middle. "So you are the new one, eh? What do they call you? Sailor Terra perhaps? Or have you taken... Her... place?"  
  
Sailor Moon took affront to being called Terra, but wondered briefly at the Daemon's mention of 'Her'. Who in the world could it be talking about?  
  
"You only need to know that you never should have come here and ruined a perfectly good park! I am Sailor Moon, I in the name of the Moon, I shall punish you!"  
  
The Daemon snorted in disbelief. "The Moon? Which moon child? Do you really think that you could possibly stand up to Norgrath, of the Sixth Circle?"  
  
Of a sudden there were two shouts from behind the Daemon and an onrush of power as the Daemon staggered from being hit. "Now!" cried out Sailor Moon and she and the others attacked as well.  
  
Norgrath bellowed in pain under the six combined attacks, and roared to shake the heavens as Sailor Moon's bright magic flooded through him.  
  
But when the attacks were over the Senshi stood gaping as the Daemon smoked, but still stood. With a great shake of his shoulders the Daemon turned to Uranus and Neptune, who had snuck around behind him while Sailor Moon had distracted him.  
  
"You shall pay for that, Senshi!" With a great wave of its hand, a ball of energy crackled through the air and hit the ground in between the two Outer Senshi.  
  
As they flew through the air, the Daemon fielded several more attacks from the original five, but froze as he heard a shout to his side.  
  
"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!"  
  
With light-quick reflexes, the monster threw itself backwards away from the Senshi as the ground where it stood quite simply ceased to exist. He stood shakily as he turned to the source of the shout. There stood Sailor Saturn, her Glaive poised in the final sweep of her attack.  
  
Norgrath stared for an instant. It couldn't be, could it?  
  
Unfortunately, the Daemon was distracted yet again by the Outer Senshi reappearing and attacking. As he casually blocked their blows, and the attacks from the Inner Senshi, he advanced on the one that reminded him too much of...  
  
Sailor Saturn looked up to see that the Daemon's charge had brought it almost to her and she was about to get run over. The monster was reaching out with one blackened hand when she heard a whisper from over her shoulder.  
  
"dead scream."  
  
The other Senshi looked on as the Daemon flew back from Saturn and the now revealed Pluto. After they saw it getting up once more without any signs of damage, they despaired.  
  
"YOU!" cried out the Daemon. "You, the Guardian! Ha! Some Guardian you are, I barely felt that blow! I see now! You are all so weak! I can take you out with no help at all! The old fools were wrong after all!"  
  
"Sailor Moon, we have a problem!" Sailor Mercury studied her visor's display carefully. "It's too powerful. It has more power than even Galaxia at her strongest. I don't know if we can kill it!"  
  
Sailor Pluto cautiously stepped to the ranting Daemon. "You should not have breached the barrier between worlds yet again. Go back to your own plane, and never let any return!"  
  
Norgrath smirked, "So sayeth Sailor Pluto! I see the Truth! If you had the power I would be dead now, and you would not bother with asking where our portal is. But since you insist, I shall give you a clue! Who is there to say there is but one portal, besides the Gate? Ha! NOW! Now you shall face your doom!"  
  
"No Daemon!" hissed Pluto. "Not my Doom, but yours!"  
  
The Senshi drew herself up and leveled the Garnet Rod at the Daemon. Beads of sweat appeared on her brow as she concentrated her energies, working her way around the constrictions place on her long ago.  
  
"mists of doom." She whispered.  
  
The Daemon's bellowing laugh cut off with a startled squawk as a strange mist appeared from the ground under his feet, but as he tried to move out of it he felt strange clawing feelings from his feet.  
  
The Senshi watched in horror as from the mists rose dark lights and skeletal hands, all grasping and clawing at the Daemon, dragging it down into the ground. The Daemon's cry of terror brought them all to their knees, as the mists sunk into the ground without a trace.  
  
Then, thinking it was over, they turned to Pluto whose face bore an expression of extreme pain.  
  
Suddenly from Sailor Moon's chest, the Ginzhoshu flared brightly and the Senshi fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Author's Note: Now that I'm done with this chapter I can almost feel people breathing down my neck wanting to know certain things, like for instance: "Usagi's got a BRAIN??"  
  
To put it shortly: "Yes." A more complete answer would reveal that Usagi is older, calmer, has more battles under her belt, and that Ami forced her to read several books on tactics and leadership.  
  
Oh, and I don't like stupid characters. Wait, let me rephrase that: I don't like stupid *good* characters. And since Usagi is (nominally) on the side of good in this story, I decided not to make her stupid.  
  
Now then, I hope that you all will be waiting patiently for the next chapter wherein Setsuna has to fess up what in the world is going on:  
  
Shades of Gray chapter 4: Lies and Betrayal. 


End file.
